Opposites (Ace Merrill Fanfic)

10

'Hey Lizzy!' A voice behind her shouted, interrupting her quiet stroll through town. She turned around to see it was Chris Chambers walking towards her.
'Hey Chris, how's it going?'she asked as they walked in unison.
'Pretty good' he replied with a shrug, 'what about you?'
'Can't complain, I had a really good day yesterday actually' she told him with a warm smile, referencing to her afternoon with Ace and the Cobras.
'Oh yeah? What did yo-' Chris began to ask but was interrupted by Gordie running up to them
'Chris you gotta come quick! You won't believe this, man' Gordie said, exhaling hard.
'Wha-' Chris replied, looking confused.
'Just come on' Gordie pleaded 'it's the treehouse'
Chris said no more, instead he gave a slightly  helpless look to Lizzy, like he had no choice but to go, and turned away to start running to the tree house with Gordie. Lizzy watched them begin to run away before Chris turned his head slightly while still running and shouted 'You coming?' to Lizzy. She only briefly thought about it for a second before running after the boys to join them. Although she didn't necessarily consider herself to be a noisy person, she was interested in why Gordie was so urgent. Plus, she did still want to maybe talk about her day with Ace yesterday.

When they were close to the treehouse, the running stopped into a more fast-paced walk full of pants of subtle exhaustion.
'I really should run more' Lizzy laughed light-heartedly, breathing more heavily than the boys.
But Chris and Gordie didn't respond to this. Instead, there was a moment where Chris stood dead which in turn caused Gordie and Lizzy to stop too.
'What the hell man' Chris exclaimed.
They had reached the treehouse. Well, you couldn't really say that anymore. As Lizzy looked up, she saw all of the wood planks that had once made up the treehouse scattered along the ground with everything that had once been in the treehouse everywhere. Their comics and magazines and playing cards were whizzing around the air in the soft breeze mostly yet some were trapped under the planks of wood. Empty coke bottles that had been left in the treehouse had been shattered and the glass pieces were everywhere. The treehouse had been totally destroyed.
'How did this happen?' Lizzy asked, slowly stepping closer to the remains of the treehouse.
'Think that's pretty obvious' Chris said, earning a nod back from Gordie as they both gave each other a knowing glance.
'What?' Lizzy asked, confused
'Isn't it obvious?' Gordie asked her, scrunching his face up, 'It had to have been Ace and the rest of the Cobras'
Lizzy was silent for a moment before asking 'but why would Ace do that?' She realised after saying this that she had only focused on Ace rather than The Cobras as a whole.
'Because he's an asshole' Gordie said, 'and he wants to get us back for the whole Ray Brower incident'
Before Lizzy could respond, Vern and Teddy came up behind them
'Shit!' Teddy exclaimed
'Oh man, oh man' Vern slowly as he approached the wreckage of the treehouse
'Those cock-sucking bastards' Chris shouted, causing Gordie to put his hand on his shoulder in support
'How do you know it was them?' Lizzie asked, not wanting to link the Ace she had been with yesterday to the the Ace who had done this.
'Oh come on Lizzy' Gordie pleaded, 'who else could it be? They knew about this place and they wanted to get us back for Ray Brower'
'They'll be planning more. Boys, it's time to go on the offensive' Teddy added, in an extremely serious tone. 
'Woah, what, c'mon' Lizzy tried to stop the boys in their tracks, she knew that this was most likely the work of The Cobras yet a big part of her didn't want to believe it and so she found herself almost defending them, without even thinking about it.
'What?' Chris asked Lizzy, his tone turning to anger over the destroyed treehouse, 'Why shouldn't we hit back? We're not scared of those pricks'
This comment caused the other boys to react with strongly-said comments of 'yeah' and 'damn right', although Vern's was slightly weaker.
Lizzy looked helpless, 'It'll just make things worse. Look what they did was clearly wrong and I know that. But things will just escalate and escalate, cmon you know that'
'I don't care' Gordie said quietly
Lizzy realised that this place was much more special than just a tree house. It was a place where they could just hang out and be themselves without the problems of their lives invading in. Much like reading was an escape for Lizzy.
'Okay I get it. I'm sorry' She told them, 'I suppose I just didn't want to believe it after yesterday' the words slipped from her mouth.
All the boys looked at her, 'yesterday?' Gordie asked.
Dammit, Lizzy said to herself. She knew it was definitely no longer appropriate to bring up the fact that she hung out with The Cobras yesterday after what they had done.
'Um, look' Lizzy started, avoiding eye contact, 'I don't want to lie to you guys, yesterday I hung out with The Cobras for a couple hours'
The boys exchanged glances before Chris spoke up.        'What the fuck' he began 'We told you they were no good. We told you what happened with Ray Brower yet still you decide it's okay to hang with those pricks?'
'I'm sor-'
'No. Just do me a favour and stop pretending to be friends with us when it's them you really wanna be with. I'm out' Chris told her as he walked away, causing the rest of the boys to follow him with disappointed looks aimed at Lizzy.
'Oh guys come on' Lizzy pleaded, 'I'm sorry!'
All four boys walked away, ignoring Lizzy's pleas.
They were Lizzy's only real friends since moving to Castle Rock, apart from The Cobras, if you could really count them as friends, which Lizzy definitely didn't want to count them as now. For the first time in a while, Lizzy felt a real sense of isolation.
                                               *
Walking through town on her way back home, Lizzy saw The Cobras on the opposite path. Great, Lizzy thought to herself as she felt utter rage and anger consume her. She wasn't just angry because of what they had done to the treehouse, or because it had led to the boys walking out on her, she was also angry because she knew she had fell for someone who she ultimately just couldn't be with. Although she wouldn't admit the latter to herself.
A smirk appeared on Ace'a face as soon as he saw Lizzy. Crossing over the street, Ace approached Lizzy and began to walk with her.
'Hey Liz'
'Fuck off' Lizzy told him, wanting to be harsh, even though it hurt to say
'Oh damn' Ace began to chuckle, 'looks like you're becoming a bit of hooligan too ey'
'Yeah well at least I'm not as cruel as you. I've just came from the treehouse, well what's left of it' Lizzy snapped
'Oh come on, they had that coming. We've barely even scratched the surface babe' Ace told her with a calculating grin
'Whatever, I don't care. All I know is that I want you to get away from me' Lizzy said before running away, holding back her tears

Ace wouldn't like to admit it but he did feel bad. Not for the hurt he had caused Gordie and the rest of the boys but for the hurt it had caused Lizzy. Oh fuck that, Ace said to himself as he rejoined the rest of The Cobras, I have a reputation to maintain.